Josiah butler



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CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

Patented Sept. ,2, 1891.

B. F. SHAW, Deod.

(No Model.) 2 sheets she et 2.

J. BUTLER, Executor. CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

No. 460,038. Patented Sept. 22, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN F. SHAWV, OF LOl/VELL, MASSACHUSETTS; JOSIAH BUTLER, EXECUTOROE SAID BENJAMIN F. SHAW, DECEASED, ASSIGNOR TO THE SHAXV STOCKINGCOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CIRCULAR-KNITTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 460,038, datedSeptember 22, 1891.

Application filed December 9, 1889. Serial No. 333,113. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. SHAW, of Lowell, county of Middlesex,State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement inCircular-Knitting Machines, of which the following description, inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, likeletters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object the production of a novelknitting-machine for knitting stockings, wherein the leg is tubular andwithout seam, the front and the back of the leg being composed ofindependent yarns, the yarn in the-back of the leg not appearing in thefront of the leg, and vice versa, the said machine containing provisionswhereby the stocking may, if desired, be made party-colored or striped,andwhereby parts of the stockin g may be narrowed and widened at desiredpoints for the production of heel and toe.

My invention is embodied in a machine containing two series of needles,the hooks of which are so arranged in the grooves of a suitable bed, inconjunction with certain sutureneedles, as to enable the production of atubular web, the said two series of needles being herein represented asof different lengths or having their butts located at differentdistances from their hooks, so that for brevity in this specification Ishall denominate the said series of needles as longer needles andshorter needles and sometimes as series needles.

I have in this present embodiment of my invention arranged two series ofneedles in grooves of a circular bed so that the needles of one of thesaid series are disposed opposite the needles of the other series, thetwo series being in concentric arcs of a circle; but I desire to have itunderstood that the bed in which the said two series of needles areplaced to be reciprocated, instead of being of the exact shape and styleshown, may be of any other usual shape common in knitting-machinescustomarily used to knit a tubular fabric. Each series of needles hasits own cam or actuator and one or more yarn-guides, and thecaIn-carrierin this instance shown as oylindricalis moved in one andthen in the opposite direction, so that by the movement of the saidcam-carrier in either direction each of the cams carried by it traversesthe butts of all of, but actuates only its own, series of needles. Inaddition to the two series of longer and shorter needles, the machine isprovided with suture-needles, two such needles being shown in thisembodiment of my invention, one suture-needle being placed between eachof the opposing ends of the two series of longer needles and shorterneedles, the said sutureneedles having their butts at a distance fromtheir hooks different from that of the butts of the needles of either ofthe two series of needles, so that they may be reciprocated by specialcams or actuators, which will not reciprocate the series-needles.

The cams or actuators with which the camcarrier is provided toreciprocate these snture-needles, and which do not actuate the longerand shorter needles, are such that the suture-needles are operated nextafter the last needle of the series-needles to make loops or stitches atthe end of each half-circular course or stroke, and so that when thecamcarrier has its movement reversed or is traveling in the direction tocommence the knitting of said half-circular courses of loops on thelonger and the shorter needles, the said suture-needles are not actedupon or are not elevated, and the last needle in each of the two seriesof needles actuated in knitting the last previous courses is made thefirst needle to receive the yarn of the course to be commenced. Thesesuture-needles, located, as described, between the opposing ends of thetwo series of needles described, so as with them to form a completecircle of needles, cooperate with the said two series of needles in suchmanner as to receive the yarns being fed to the said two series ofneedles and effect the interlooping successively of the twohalf-circular courses of loops knitted on the two series of needles; or,in other words, the suture-needles take the yarns fed to both sets ofneedles and make simultaneously at both sides of the needle-bed loops tojoin at their edges and make a single tubular fabric from what but fortheir interaction would be two separate fiat fabrics.

In the machine herein described the suture-needles have each a singlebutt and are operated each by a suture-cam, the said needles taking yarnand forming stitches only at that part of a stroke of the cam-carrierwhere the said cams leave the needles, and as a result thereof peculiarrows of stitches or wales are formed where the two sides knitted on thelonger and shorter needles are interlooped at their edges, the saidwales running longitudinally along each side of the stocking.

In another application, Serial No. 342,960, I have shown suture-needlesof another construction, so operated that at the sutures there are twiceas many loops as result from the operation of the construction hereindescribed.

The machine may have a number of yarnfeeders for each series of needles,so that yarns of different colors or characters may be fed to theneedles, as desired, and the machine will preferably be so constructedas to enable one series of needles to be used in knitting heels and toeswhile the other series is left inactive.

The needle-bed (herein shown as a hollow cylinder) will be removable tofacilitate the running on of cuifs or rib-tops to which the stocking maybe knitted.

The cams or actuators will be preferably so mounted, as will bedescribed, as to enable them to be withdrawn from and returned intooperative position in the cam-carrier whenever desired.

My invention is embodied in a knittingmachine having a needle-bed, twoseries of needles, intermediary suture-needles located between the saidtwo series of needles and having their butts located at a distance fromtheir hooks different from that of the butts of either of the series ofneedles, a cam or actuator carrier, cams or actuators to reciprocate thesaid two series of needles and the said suture-needles, means toreciprocate the said cam-carrier, and two yarn-delivery guides, each tosupply one of the said series of needles with yarn, and not the other ofthe said series of needles, each yarn being, how' ever, engaged atproper times by the sutureneedles, substantially as will be described.

Other features in which my invention consists will be hereinafterdescribed, and pointed out in the claims'at the end of thisspecification.

Figure 1 is a top view or plan of a knittingmachine embodying myinvention, the two suture-needles being indicated, and all but two ofthe needles of the two series of longer and shorter needles beingomitted, the camcarrier being shown as stopped with the longer needlecam or actuator under the butts of the shorter needles and with theshorter needle cam or actuator over the butts of the longer needles, asin Fig. 4; Fig. 2,a vertical section of the same in the irregular dottedline 00, the said figure showing by dotted lines the two suture-needleswith their butts below the butts of the longer and shorter needles; butit will be understood that with the camcarrier in the position indicatedin Figs. 2, 4, and 5 the said suture-needles could not be seen in suchsection, for they are ninety degrees distant from the line at, Fig. 1;Fig. 3, an inward side view of one of the arms and thread-guides to bedescribed. Fig. 3 is a detail showing the outer side of the slide m andnotched plate and catch, (shown by dotted lines in Figs. 4 and 5,)together with part of the segment m; Fig. 4, a detail of the inner sideof the cylindrical cam-carrier, the cams or actuators, and some of thelonger and some of the shorter needles, and the sutureneedles in thepositions they will occupy with relation to the shown cams whendisengaged by them, the n eedle-bed being wholly omitted. Fig. 5 is asimilar view of a modification to be referred to, and Fig. 6 shows oneof the suture-needles.

The needle-bed A is herein shown as a hollow cylinder; but instead ofthe particular form of needle-bed representedl may use any other form ofbed commonly employed in knitting-machines for the production of tubularfabricsas, for instance, a conical bed, as in United States ReissuedPatent No. 2,419, dated December 18, 1866, or a circular flatbed, as inUnited States Patent No. 31,287, dated February 5, 1861. The needle-bedis set upon a foot-plate A, which also supports the camcarrier B, (shownas a hollow cylinder,) provided at its lower end with a suitable gear B,of usual construction, which is engaged and driven by any usualbevel-gear B (Partially shown in Fig. 2. The cam-carrier has attached toit, as herein shown, by like screws 2 the feet 3 of two like armscd,each jointed or hinged in suitable manner, as at 4, to its own foot, sothat the said arms may standupright, as in Figs. 1 and 2, or be turnedon the joints 4 into substantially horizontal positions, when desired.The arm 0 has a yarndelivery guide 0 and three auxiliary feeders c c 0each being herein represented as hinged and provided with a suitablespring, as 6, by which to retain it in elevated position, as indicatedby the feeders c 0 or down in working position, as indicated by thefeeder 0 The yarn from the feeder left down next the delivery-guide 0will be led therefrom to the said guide 0', and the latter will presentsaid yarn, whatever may be its color, size, or number, to the hooks ofthe longer needles f. The arm at has a yarn-delivery guide d and threeauxiliary feeders d d d, like those of arm 0, the guide 61 supplying theyarn delivered to it to the hooks of the shorter needles 6. The needles6, termed shorter needles, have their butts e located at such a distancefrom theirhooks as to enable them to be acted upon by the shorter-needlecam or actuator, (shown at the left in Figs. 4and 5,) while the seriesof needles f, having their butts f at agreater distance from theirhooks,

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and consequently called longer needles, are acted upon bythelonger-needle cam or actuator. (Shown in detail at the right of Figs. 4and In the drawings the longer-needle cams or actuators are shown ashaving passed the series of longer'needles and as having been stoppedunder the series of shorter needles, and the shorter-needle cams oractuators are shown as having passed the series of shorter needles, andas having been stopped opposite the series of longer needles, but abovetheir butts. The suture-needles g h are located between the endmostneedles of the series of longer and shorter needles, as best shown inFigs. 4 and 5, the said suture-needles being shown by dotted lines inFig. 2. The sutureneedle g constitutes the last needle to take a loopand make a stitch as the longer-needle cam or actuator leaves thelonger-needles, and the suture-needle 7b is the last to receive yarn andmake a stitch as the shorter-needle cam or actuator leaves the series ofshorter needles when the machine is moved in the direction of the arrow200, and vice versa when the machine is moved in the opposite direction.

In Fig. 4t, which shows clearly the different cams or actuators used inthe machine represented in Figs. 1 and 2, the shorter-needle cam at theleft of the figure is represented as composed of a notched plate m, atop plate m and two pivoted blocks or tumblers m m The longer-needle camin Fi 4c is composed of an elevating-plate n and a depressingplate n.

When the cam-carrier B is given a movement in one direction and then ina reverse direction the shorter-needle cam passes the set of shorterneedles 6, acts on their butts and reciprocates them, and whencompleting its movement passes over some of the longer needles abovetheir butts without actuating them, and at the same time thelonger-needle cam crosses the series of longer needles and, engagingtheir butts, actuates the said longer needles, and in its furthermovement to complete its stroke passes under the butts of some of theshorter needles without actuating them. i

Instead of the longer-needle cam being composed of the rigid parts at n,as in Fig. 4, it may be composed of a notched plate, as n, a top platen, and two tumbler-cams n a as at the right of Fig. 5.

The longer and shorter needle cams shown in Figs. 4 and 5 are all ofusual shape or construction, and when in action they operate on thebutts of the needles to reciprocate the needles, as in earlierknitting-machines; but instead of the particular longer-needle cams andthe particular shorter-needle cams herein shown, I desire it to beunderstood that I may employ any other suitable cams commonly employedin machines for knitting a tubular web and capable of being reciprocatedat times for shaping heels and toes. The particular forms of the saidlonger needle cams or actuators and the shorter needle cams or actuatorsare not of my invention, and there are a great Variety of such camsshown in United States patents, any of which may be employed, and thelonger-needle cams and. the shorter-needle cams may be alike or bedifferent from each other.

The drawings, Figs. 1, 2, and 4, show the longer-needle cam as securedto a movable segment 01. while the shorter-needle cam is secured to amovable segment m both segments fitting openings made in the cylindricalcam-carrier. The L-shaped slides 012 02 have their feet fitted to slidein guideways m 72 projecting from the cam-carrier horizontally, the saidslides having locking devices m n (shown as pins,) adapted to enterholes, as

shown, or the slots m or a when the segments are to be withdrawn, thesaid locking,

devices preventing the withdrawal of the slides farther than necessary.I, however, desire it to be understood that instead of securing the saidlonger-needle cam or actuator and the said shorter needle cam oractuator to the said segments, as in Figs. 2 and at, they may be fixedin any usual manner to the inner side of the cam-carrier, as shown inFig. 5, in which figure the suture-cams are shown as attached tosegments m w; but I prefer to fix the said cams to segments, as shown inFigs. 2 and 4, so that the longer-needle cam may be moved out ofoperative position when the shorter needles are to be used in knittingheels and toes, and so that the shorter-needle cam may be moved out ofthe way to facilitate the removal of the needle-bed with the needlestherein for the application to the needles of the loops of a rib top orcuff.

Each suture'needle g 71, has a butt, as g 71, and is actuated by boththe suture cams or actuators, but not by the other cams or actuators.The two suture-cams are substantially alike, one being located below theshorterneedle cam and the other below the longerneedle cam. Thesuture-cam located below the shorter-needle cam m atthe left in Figs. 4and 5 and at the right in Fig. 2 is composed of a drawing-down plate, as9 and of. a tilting portion 9 fast on a rock-shaft 16, extended throughthe segmental plate m and the slide on, to the outside thereof,where thesaid rockshaft is provided with a plate or arm 18, notched or shaped tobe engaged by a yielding catch 20, made preferably as a spring securedto the said slide. cam consists of a tilting cam h and the lower edge ofthe cam-plate n, the tilting cam being connected to a rock-shaft 17,extended outwardly through the segment a and a slide a like the slide711 the outer end of the said rock-shaft being provided with a notchedarm, plate, or segment 19, acted upon and held frictionally in either ofits two extreme positions by a spring 21, attached to the slide it, theplates 19 and 18 and the springs 21 and 20 being alike.

The other suture.

Within the cam-carrier and at its lower end is a ring a, 011 which thebutts of the sutureneedles rest when down, the said ring below theprojecting ends of the tilting portions of the suture-cams being cutaway, so that that end of each tilting part which is to act on the buttof a suture-needle to lift it may descend into the space out in the saidring a, as shown by the right-hand end of the said tilting part. (SeeFig. 4.) The suture-cam containing the tilting part h reciprocated thesutureneedle 9 as it completed its stroke in the direction of the arrow200, and at the same time the suture-cam containing the tilting partreciprocated the suture-needle It. On beginning theretnrn stroke of thecam-carrier the elevated end of the tilting part h of the suture-campasses over the butt of the sutureneedleg, and its depressed endstriking against the said butt causes the cam to be tilted and turn therock-shaft 17, to which it is attached, and with it the plate 19 untilthe spring-catch 21 enters the other notch in the said plate. At thesame time the butt of the suture-needle it performs the same functionfor the other suture-cam having the tilting part 9 These suture-cams,each respectively rocked by the butt of the needle which it is not tolift, thus have their leading ends lowered, so that when the saidsuture-cams arrive at the suture-needles they are to act upon and lift,the leading ends of the said cams will pass under the butts of thesuture-needles and cause them to knit. These suture-cams, like theshorter and longer needle cams, will preferably be attached to movablesegments of the camcarrier, so as to be Withdrawable from operativeposition, Fig. 3 showing a suture-cam and part of a segment.

To remove the needle-bed for applying a rib-top in the constructionshown in Fig. 4, the cam-carrier is stopped in position, so that thebutts of the shorter needles are over the the longer-needle cams. Thecams are then to be withdrawn, whereupon the needle-cylinder with itsneedles therein may be removed. After applying the ribbed top to theneedles in the usual way in the construction shown in Fig. 4, theneedle-bed is returned to the machine. The actuating-cams are nextreturned into operative position, the yarnguides are brought intoposition to deliver yarn to the needles, one of the three auxiliaryfeeders of each upright c d being down in working position and suppliedwith yarn from any usual slack yarn take-up-such, for instance, as inUnited States Patent- N 0. 123,687, dated February 13, 1872when theknitting is proceeded with by reciprocating the cam-carrier.

To remove the needle-bed for applying a rib-top in the constructionshown in Fig. 5, the cam-carrier is stopped in position stated as forFig. 4., the shorter and longer needles are pulled up by hand out ofrange of their respective cams, and the cam-carrier given half arevolution. The needle-bed may now be lifted out. After applying therib-top in the usual way in the construction shown in Fig. 5, theneedle-bed is returned to the machine, the cam-carrier given half arevolution,

the needles pushed down into position to have their butts acted upon bytheir respective cams, when, yarn having been supplied as described inthe case of Fig. 4, knitting may be proceeded with. As the machine isturned in one direction,thesuture-cams engage thebutts of thesuture-needles and raise them so as to take yarn,andasthesesuture-camsareinavertical line with the knitting-cams above themit follows that the path taken by each sutureneedle in its descent willbe the same as that taken by the needles of the respective series oflonger or shorter needles, and consequently the thread-guides wiildeliver yarn to all of them in the same manner. As the longer andshorter needle-cams in their reciprocations leave their respectiveseries of longer or shorter needles, each suture-needle is acted upon bya suture-cam, (the leading end of the tilting part then being down,) sothat said suture-needle is the last needle lifted at that stroke of thecam-carrier, and consequently it is the last needle to take yarn andform a stitch. Upon reversal of the movement of the cam-carrier theelevated ends of the tilting parts of the suture-cams. pass each overthe butt of a suture-needle and the under side of each suture-cam comesin contact with the upper side of the butt of the suture-needle whichwas raised and lowered during the preceding stroke of the cam-carrier,and the suture-needles are not lifted and do not at such time take yarn;or, in other words, the suture-needles act only at the end of the strokeand not at the commencement of the stroke of the cam-carrier. It will benoticed that with this construction the last stitch of each courseknitted 011 each series of needles is made by the suture-needle, andthat the first stitch of the neXt course is made by the needle nextafter the suture-needle in the direction of movement of the cam-carrier,and that the suture-needles form only one stitch each for eachhalf-circular course knitted.

If it is desired to make a stocking with a leg and upper half of footstriped, say red and drab yarn, and the heel, toe, and sole of adifferent color, say of brown yarn, an auxiliary feeder on each arm 0and d will be supplied with yarn, as follows, viz: c and (1 will besupplied with drab, c and d with red, and c and d with brown yarn. Whenthe auxiliary feeders are down, as shown by the feeders 0 d they feedthe yarn to the needles ICC through the main delivery-guides c and d anddo not supply yarn to the needles when turned up, as shown by thefeeders c 0*, (Z and (Z After say eight courses have been knitted fromthe drab yarn supplied by the feeders c and d and it is desired tochange the color to red, the feeders c and d are swung into position andthe feeders c and d are swung out of position. If two courses of red aredesired,

the cam-carrier is moved back and forth to knit that number, when theguides are again changed and drab knit as before for the desired numberof courses. This may be repeated until the point is reached at which itis desired to make the heel. If this is to be made of the brown yarn,the feeder of the guide for supplying yarn to the shorter needles havingthat color is brought into position and all the other auxiliary feedersswung out of position. The longer-needle cam and suture-cams in theconstruction Fig. 4, are then moved out of operative position and theheel is knitted in the usual way by narrowing and widening, orin anyother convenient Way, the suture needles and the longer needles beingthen out of action. At the completion of the last course of the heel thesaid cams are again moved into actuating position. If the sole is to bemade of the same color as the heel, then the feeder used in knitting theheel can remain in the same position during the knitting of the foot, itonly being necessary to alternate the feeders for supplying yarn to theneedles on which the instep is knitted, as in the operation of knittingthe leg. After the desired length has been knitted for the foot, thecams for operating the longer and the suture needles are moved out ofactuating position, as in knitting the heel, and the toe is knitted onthe shorter needles.

The machine described may be used to knit the heel and toe of astocking, as in United States Patent No. 64,154, dated April 23, 1867,or other usual heel. After a sufficient length of tubular fabric hasbeen knitted on construction shown in Fig. 5 to form a leg,a heel may beknitted on either series of needles, the suture-cams being withdrawn,the series of needles not to be used in making the heel being lifted byhand until their butts are out of range of the series of cams foroperating them. The heel, if the ordinary seamless one, is knitted byraising the needles one at a time out of range of the knitting-cams innarrowing, and returning them one at a time to the proper position to beengaged by the cams when widening, this being done by hand in the usualway. At the completion of the heel that series of needles not usedduring the making of the heel is returned to the proper position to beengaged by its earns, the suture-cams are returned, and the foot isknitted by reciprocating the cam-carrier, as in knitting the leg. At thecompletion of the foot the needles not to be used for the production ofthe toe are raised out of action, as in knitting the heel, thesuture-cams are withdrawn, and the toe is knitted in the usual way. Itwill be noticed that the heel or toe may be made on either series ofneedles, and that the heel may be made on one series and the toe on theother, when it is desired to make them that way.

I have used the terms longer and shorter needles to aid in describingthe construction and operation of the parts of my new machine; butin theclaims I shall use the term two series of needles, thereby meaning theseries of needles e and f, adapted to be actuated separately, each byits own proper cam or needle actuator.

I do not desire to limit myinvention herein contained to the eXact formof suture-needle shown, nor to the exact location of their butts withrelation to the two series of needles with which they co-operate to jointhe webs produced thereon, as the gist of my invention herein containedlies in such a construction of suture-needles that they are operated atone stroke of the cam-carrier and not at the return stroke thereof, asdescribed.

' I claim I 1. A knitting-machine containing the following specifiedinstrumentalities: a needlebed, two series. or ranks of needles,intermediary suture-needles interacting between said two series,substantially as and to the effect described, combined withneedle-actuators to operate said two series of needles, needleactuatorsto operate said suture-needles, two yarn-supplying guides and means forapplication of motive power, substantially as described.

2. A needle-bed, a series of shorter needles, a series of longerneedles,intermediary sutureneedles located between the said series oflonger and shorter needles and having their butts located at a distancefrom their hooks difierent from the distance of the butts upon thelonger or shorter needles, and two yarndelivery guides, one for eachseries of longer and shorter needles, combined with a camcarrier, alonger needle cam or actuator, a shorter needle earn or actuator,independent cams or actuators to actuate the said sutureneedles, andmeans to reciprocate the said cam-carrier, substantially as described.

3. A knitting-machine containing the following instrumentalities, viz: aneedle-bed, two series of needles, intermediary sutureneedles locatedbetween the said two series of needles, combined with independentneedle-actuators to actuate the said two series of needles and the saidsutureneedles, two yarndelivery guides to supply yarns, each to one ofthe said series of needles and to the sutureneedles, as described, andauxiliary feeders co-operating with each of the said yarn-deliveryguides and adapted to supply them with yarn, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. SHAW. Witnesses:

MARTIN L. HAMBLET, CHAs. F. LIBBY.

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